Tony Martin: Country Songs Written By a Seminary Teacher

All In

DB Podcasts

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.8 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 January 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tony Martin, a Nashville songwriter who has written 16 #1 country music hits, is a believer as a songwriter that anything you’re immersed in will show up in your writing. So, when you know that Martin has been called to be a seminary teacher three times and has taught Sunday School, it comes as no surprise that religious themes have, at times, snuck into the country songs he writes for a living. But on this week’s episode, Martin talks about writing deliberately spiritual songs for the first time.

2:55- ‘Just What My Dad Did’
6:37- A Songwriter’s Process
12:40- Writing From Experience and Imagination
15:40- Criticisms and Evolution of Country Music
20:37- ‘I Believe Him’
23:47- The Book of Mormon—An Addition
25:18- ‘Old Man Said He Saw a Tree’
29:36- Jacob’s Ladder and Working Out Your Own Salvation
33:03- The Horn Player
35:05- God Needs Drummers
38:56- The Lord Speaks To Everyone Differently
41:30- Giving Something Away For Nothing
45:31- What Does It Mean To Be All In the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

“The Lord…wants good people to make music, the Devil doesn’t need to have all the good things.” —Tony Martin

Witness: A Nashville Tribute to The Book of Mormon

“Just to See Your Smile”

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Whether you're a country music fan or not, you've likely heard the song Just to See You Smile, Made Famous by Tim McGraw.
0:08.0	What if I told you it was co-written by a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
0:14.0	Well, it's true.
0:15.5	Tony Martin is a Nashville songwriter who has written 16 number one country music hits
0:21.8	and who happens to have spent a good amount of time in his life teaching early morning seminary.
0:27.0	The apple didn't fall far from the tree as Tony Martin is the son of another Nashville songwriter named Glenn Martin.
0:34.8	Tony graduated from Brigham Young University in 1986 with a degree in communications
0:41.3	and an emphasis in journalism.
0:43.0	He worked for the Daily Journal in Chicago
0:46.0	until his song,
0:47.0	Babies Gotten Good at Goodbye,
0:49.0	was recorded by George Strait.
0:51.0	He continued to work for the Tennessean to support his family as he pursued songwriting, but in
0:57.0	2001, Martin signed an exclusive contract with Sony A TV Music Publishing. Most recently, of woman titled Witness. This is All In, an LDS Living podcast where we ask the question, what does it really mean to be
1:21.8	All In, the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I'm Morgan Pearson and I am
1:26.3	so honored to have Tony Martin on the line with me today Tony welcome.
1:30.5	Thank you. Happy to be here.
1:34.2	So I have to start this interview by telling you, Tony, about a message that I got from your friend
1:41.7	and my friend, Jason Deere Deer he sent me this audio message because I have a
1:46.0	seven-month-old baby and so that's the easiest way for me to communicate with people and
1:51.0	he sent me this audio message and in it he's telling me he's like
1:55.5	we had this guy he helped us write a few of the songs for the new Nashville tribute
	...

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